Player exodus begins

Athletic's cash crisis means that although Athletic midfielder Tony Carss turned down a move to Colchester United, out of contract striker Wayne Andrews has signed for them.

Manager Iain Dowie said, “It's a very bitter pill to swallow for me, I've had a lot of dealings with Wayne throughout my career, once at QPR and now at Oldham and without question he has been a huge success, not only his ability on the field but in terms of his personality, he brings something to the club and the club will be a much poorer place without him. I said that the disintegration of the team was not too far away and it's started today, Wayne was a key signing and with all due respect, probably the most important signing we'd have made this year would have been to tie Wayne Andrews up. It's something we cannot affect now, he's signed for Colchester who are obviously interested in a few of our players so it must mean we are doing something right. I wish Wayne every success and we thank him for his efforts, he's grown in stature and is now a very decent centre forward.”